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lokifanThanks so much for all the lovely, insightful, helpful and huggy comments on my last post. I was NOT expecting anything like so many or such lovely ones, which just goes to show that I should not underestimate my flist. ♥ In a swift move from gratitude to RAGEFACE, a little rant...
Fingers crossed for the Palestinian vote today. I am going to be sending some angry letters if Cameron abstains. It would be bloody ridiculous to give in to American pressure here, particularly there aren’t any British votes in saying No Palestine Doesn’t Deserve To Have Its Statehood Recognised What Are You On About.
I just... argh. As ever you are welcome to both discuss and debate with me in the comments and anon commenting is on, but I have so far found the arguments in favour of rejecting Palestine’s UN application for statehood to be factually incorrect/ambivalent (they want violence! Violence will inevitably be sparked!), idiotic/in bad faith (peace will come from negotiation not acting alone! Right, because statehood isn’t a necessary step in the process at all. Netanyahu, this should not be a barrier to negotiation), or morally repugnant.
That last one for me would be the argument, made by both Israel and the US, that Palestine should be denied UN statehood because statehood would allow it to prosecute others at the International Criminal Court. That argument is one they should be ashamed to make. It is, quite clearly, the argument that Palestine should not be allowed to prosecute for war crimes committed against its people; that Palestinians do not have the right of access to legitimate punishment for those who commit crimes against them.
Which is both evil and stupid. We’ve been over this: Hamas and groups like them get elected due to desperation and the sense that there is no way to legitimately punish criminal Israelis, so let’s kill them back instead. THIS IS PALESTINE GOING FOR THE NON-VIOLENT LEGITIMATE-AUTHORITY SOLUTION. OMG ISRAEL PLEASE STOP STABBING YOURSELF IN THE BACK. Hebrew University says 69% of Israelis support Palestnian statehood! NETANYAHU STOP BEING CRAZY. AND GET YOURSELF A NEW FOREIGN MINISTER FFS.
One of the things that scares me about the Israel/Palestinian conflict is the situation of Palestinian children. They are growing up under siege. Palestine has been colonised by Israel for forty-four years, of course (and I mean that in the sense of going-over-agreed-borders-and-stealing-land, obviously Israel has the right to exist, etc). But the kids growing up now, the people my age... there are terrifying rates of mental illness and PTSD. And of course there are kids dead, arrested, beaten up, unable to access university or even good health care, kids who are lucky if they’ve just got hearing problems from explosions. The Israeli army, as many former officers have told us, has a policy of making Palestinians feel chased and subdued and under siege. Collective punishment breeds resentment and violence like nothing else, and 26% of Palestinians already support armed resistance.
If this stuff doesn’t get better before today’s kids - are in charge... it’ll be a bloody miracle if they don’t grow up into adults uninterested in peaceful negotiation. And that can only end horribly for both countries. :(
Fingers crossed for the Palestinian vote today. I am going to be sending some angry letters if Cameron abstains. It would be bloody ridiculous to give in to American pressure here, particularly there aren’t any British votes in saying No Palestine Doesn’t Deserve To Have Its Statehood Recognised What Are You On About.
I just... argh. As ever you are welcome to both discuss and debate with me in the comments and anon commenting is on, but I have so far found the arguments in favour of rejecting Palestine’s UN application for statehood to be factually incorrect/ambivalent (they want violence! Violence will inevitably be sparked!), idiotic/in bad faith (peace will come from negotiation not acting alone! Right, because statehood isn’t a necessary step in the process at all. Netanyahu, this should not be a barrier to negotiation), or morally repugnant.
That last one for me would be the argument, made by both Israel and the US, that Palestine should be denied UN statehood because statehood would allow it to prosecute others at the International Criminal Court. That argument is one they should be ashamed to make. It is, quite clearly, the argument that Palestine should not be allowed to prosecute for war crimes committed against its people; that Palestinians do not have the right of access to legitimate punishment for those who commit crimes against them.
Which is both evil and stupid. We’ve been over this: Hamas and groups like them get elected due to desperation and the sense that there is no way to legitimately punish criminal Israelis, so let’s kill them back instead. THIS IS PALESTINE GOING FOR THE NON-VIOLENT LEGITIMATE-AUTHORITY SOLUTION. OMG ISRAEL PLEASE STOP STABBING YOURSELF IN THE BACK. Hebrew University says 69% of Israelis support Palestnian statehood! NETANYAHU STOP BEING CRAZY. AND GET YOURSELF A NEW FOREIGN MINISTER FFS.
One of the things that scares me about the Israel/Palestinian conflict is the situation of Palestinian children. They are growing up under siege. Palestine has been colonised by Israel for forty-four years, of course (and I mean that in the sense of going-over-agreed-borders-and-stealing-land, obviously Israel has the right to exist, etc). But the kids growing up now, the people my age... there are terrifying rates of mental illness and PTSD. And of course there are kids dead, arrested, beaten up, unable to access university or even good health care, kids who are lucky if they’ve just got hearing problems from explosions. The Israeli army, as many former officers have told us, has a policy of making Palestinians feel chased and subdued and under siege. Collective punishment breeds resentment and violence like nothing else, and 26% of Palestinians already support armed resistance.
If this stuff doesn’t get better before today’s kids - are in charge... it’ll be a bloody miracle if they don’t grow up into adults uninterested in peaceful negotiation. And that can only end horribly for both countries. :(